11 February 2019

Monday 11 February is International Epilepsy Day

Today, Monday 11 February, is International Epilepsy Day. On
this day every year, organisations in more than 120 countries
across the world promote awareness of the problems faced by people
with epilepsy, their families and carers.

Epilepsy in the UK:

Affects around one in every 100 people.

Every day, 87 people are diagnosed with epilepsy.

Every year, 1,000 people die because of their epilepsy.

One in every 220 children will have a diagnosis of
epilepsy.

On average, one child in every primary school, and five
children in every secondary school will have a form of
epilepsy

Roughly one in three children with epilepsy will not have their
seizures adequately controlled by medications and should be
evaluated as potential candidates for epilepsy surgery.

Epilepsy surgery for children:

Every year, around 340 children in England could benefit
from epilepsy brain surgery to reduce or even completely stop
seizures.

UH Bristol is one of four Children's Epilepsy Surgery
Service (CESS) centres in England and has an expert team of
surgeons, doctors, nurses and specialist facilities working out of
the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

Speaking about International Epilepsy Day and the
difference that CESS centres can make, Michael Carter, consultant
paediatric neurosurgeon, said:

"There has never been a better time to be involved in epilepsy
surgery for children. The service at Bristol children's hospital
has expanded massively over the past five years and we now provide
evaluations and epilepsy surgery for children from the South West,
Oxford and Wessex regions and South Wales. It has become clear that
many more children with seizures may be candidates for surgical
intervention than was thought likely when we were first
designated as a specialist service in 2011. A high proportion of
the cases we treat end up seizure free and many others experience
very significant improvements in their seizure burden. High quality
imaging of neurological function and the availability of inpatient
rehabilitation services at Bristol children's hospital mean that we
are increasingly considering complex interventions in children as
young as six weeks and seeing some incredible outcomes."